My younger brother Ron and I were very big for our age. When people told Pop, "You have really good looking boys," Pop would smile and agree: "Yep, they're strong as an ox and nearly as smart."

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Religion and Terrorism

"Fearing Muslims just because some Muslims are terrorists is as irrational as blaming every white American for the past sins of slavery, or every Christian for the excesses of the crusades."

So wrote a frequent commenter.I replied:

You really tortured logic on this one. In one deadly event after another perpetrated by Muslims, the fact of their religious belief is the cause of their terrorist acts. A scribbled drawing of the Prophet is a command from Allah to kill, whereas a crucifix displayed in a bottle of urine leads to nothing more from Christians than a few angry letters.

Therefore, it is prudent to not risk offending a Muslim, because they may exact deadly revenge.

How any of that relates to white Americans today and blame for the sins of slavery is beyond comprehension. A Muslim terrorist is, under close inspection, still a Muslim, whereas a white American today, under that same close inspection, is not a slaver. In fact, there is a very good chance that none of his/her relatives were either, at least in the past several hundred years.

And then you compound the silliness by referring back to the "excesses of the Crusades." It would seem that the only way that would have relevance is if more than an occasional nut case today was attempting to spread Christianity at the point of the sword.

Didn't anyone ever tell you that you can't visit the sins of the father on the head of the son?

But you can criticize a Muslim community that doesn't take a loud, principled stand against terrorist acts against civilian populations.